Coach Opat earns 300th win, as Cochise Women's Basketball advances to Region 1 title game with win over Arizona Western

DOUGLAS, Ariz. --- The Apaches and Matadors faced eachother for the fifth time this season, this time in a post-season setting as Cochise hosted Arizona Western at the Stronghold Gymnasium for the rights to face Eastern Arizona in the Region 1 Champsionship game. The Apaches had only beaten Arizona Western once in the regular season, but refused to let previous games get the best of them. Arizona Western jumped out to an early 22-15 lead after the first quarter, but the Apaches responded in the second due to a fiery run from freshman guard Micayla Silas who scored 11 points in the second quarter to allow Cochise to head into the locker room with a 35-32 lead at the half. 

A strong defensive game only kept both teams to score a limited amount of points in the third quarter, as Cochise maintained a slim lead heading into the fourth. Sophomore Ali Hardwel led the way for the Apaches in the fourth scoring 9 points en route to a Cochise 61-60 win over Arizona Western, sealing a re-match with Eastern Arizona for the NJCAA Region 1 Championship. Hardwell led Cochise with 22 points and 4 assists, Silas followed with 11 points and a steal. Sophomore Clara Gonzalez scored 10 points with 2 rebounds.

Coach Opat earns 300th career win..

Along with clinching a spot in the region title game, Cochise Women's Head Coach Misty Opat collected her 300th career win. Opat, who has been the head coach at Cochise since 2020, has managed to turn the program around into a conference and national-title contender in a short amount of time. Coach Opat was surrounded by several family and friends during post-game to celebrate this historic feat.

Up Next..

Cochise Women's Basketball (24-7,18-5) will visit Eastern Arizona College (27-3,20-3) on Tuesday, March 12th for a rematch of the title game from a year ago in Thatcher, AZ. The Region 1 Championship game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 pm.